My name is Bond, James Bond... Come to the theatre!!

I SPIED

MONDAY 17 MAY 2010

6 p.m.

Assembly Room (EOI Mairena del Aljarafe)

COME AND JOIN US!!!

2010 British Election - A hung parliament

From left to right: David Cameron (Conservative Party - right wing), Gordon Brown (Labour party - Left wing), Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - centrist to centre-left)

Yesterday, 6 May 2010, a general election was held in the UK. This means that the British people elected the Members of Parliament (MPs) forming the House of Commons, among them their next Prime Minister (PM). So far, Gordon Brown was the inhabitant of no. 10, Downing St. (see photograph below). Did you know that...

• British elections take place EVERY FIVE YEARS?
• Election Day is generally on a Thursday?
• the Prime Minister's house in 10 Downing Street is commonly known as "number 10"?

But the battle to be the UK's next Prime Minister is still under way after the Conservatives make big gains but fall short of a majority. In fact, this situation has a name: A HUNG PARLIAMENT. If you want to know what that means, click here.

This situation, that is so common in Spain because of the Spanish electoral system, is extremely rare in the UK. This is because of the British electoral system, based on the principle FIRST PAST THE POST. What does it mean?

• Britain is divided in CONSTITUENCIES (=distritos electorales).
• The different parties present candidates to win their constituency, that is, ONE SEAT (=escaño) IN PARLIAMENT (in the HOUSE OF COMMONS).
• The candidate with the largest number of votes is elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for that constituency.
• The Party with the largest number of elected MPs generally forms the government.

Advantages: This system is relatively easy for voters to understand and it produces quick results (the new Prime Minister can move to Downing Street the day after the election if his party got an absolute majority!!!!)

Disadvantages: The candidate with more votes might not win the election and therefore, would not form a government.

Would you like to enter 10 Downing St. ?

no. 10 Downing St. - House to the British Prime Minister

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR: Entrance Hall, Cabinet Room, Grand Staircase, White Drawing Room, Terracotta Room, Pillared Room, Small Dining Room, State Dining Room & The Study

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/, Wikipedia, http://www.number10.gov.uk/

International Book Day Challenge

Dearest students,

BRAVO!!! Those of you who were kind enough to participate in the challenge were absolutely RIGHT!! The three extracts belonged to the following masterpieces of English literature:

FRAGMENT 1

WUTHERING HEIGHTS, by Emily Brontë.

Emily Jane Brontë (pronounced /ˈbrɒnti/ or /ˈbrɒnteɪ/) (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, now best remembered for her novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. Emily was the second eldest of the three surviving Brontë sisters, between Charlotte and Anne. She published under the androgynous pen name Ellis Bell.

Many people, generally those who have never read the book, consider Wuthering Heights to be a straightforward, if intense, love story — Romeo and Juliet on the Yorkshire Moors. But this is a mistake. Really the story is one of revenge. It follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious gypsy-like person, from childhood (about seven years old) to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff rises in his adopted family and then is reduced to the status of a servant, running away when the young woman he loves decides to marry another. He returns later, rich and educated and sets about gaining his revenge on the two families that he believed ruined his life.

Take some time to watch this fragment of the film version with Ralph Fiennes & Juliette Binoche (especially after min. 7:15)

FRAGMENT 2

PRIDE & PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction set among the gentry have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature. Amongst scholars and critics, Austen's realism and biting social commentary have cemented her historical importance as a writer.

As the novel opens, Mr Bingley, a wealthy young gentleman, rents a country estate near the Bennets called Netherfield. He arrives in town accompanied by his fashionable sisters and his good friend, Mr Darcy. While Bingley is well-received in the community, Darcy begins his acquaintance with smug condescension and proud distaste for all the 'country' people. Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet's older sister Jane begin to grow close despite Mrs Bennet's embarrassing interference and the opposition of Bingley's sister Caroline, who considers Jane socially inferior. Elizabeth is stung by Darcy's haughty rejection of her at a local dance and decides to match his coldness with her own wit...

FRAGMENT 3

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer, poet, and prominent aesthete. Educated in Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He worked as a journalist and writer. He wrote articles, essays, one novel -the one we're just talking about- and several successful plays, such as The Importance of Being Earnest.

The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.